Keep at it!

 

Every day - praying for a Christian mentor to influence our children.

Every day - praying for the correct diagnosis and treatment for someone living in constant pain.

Those addicted to food, alcohol, spending, etc. - and there just seems like no real help is ever going to come. Every day there is that same struggle / battle with no victory. My prayers for them over and over again seem rote. Memorized. Sometimes wringing my hands in pleading. Sometimes throwing my hands up in surrender. Why should I persist?

Then a bible verse popped up on my screen that stopped me in my tracks.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

‭‭What if, this isn’t talking just about the body as I have first perceived it. What if it’s also talking about God working behind the scenes, renewing our circumstances, bit by bit, and day by day, with great precision.  (“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬) What if our daily persistent praying is not a time of wasting away?

We can’t always see the amazing, constant work of the Lord while it is in process. In process of bringing about the greater good. But what if every single prayer is nudging kingdom forces forward? Our little seeds of faithful prayer… where victory could be so very close!

“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” 

“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭8‬:‭8‬, ‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

These verses about seeds too. Persevering to produce… I’m always thinking of my contributions as just a little bit. Like tiny seeds scattered about - hoping one of them will take root. So too, Lord, with my prayers. I pray some of them take root. I believe some will take root! So I will keep at it. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13)

“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John‬ ‭6‬:‭66‬-‭69‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Do you ever want to leave (give up) too?

Where else would we turn? Oh Lord, You are the only One. Savior. Healer. Miracle Worker. There is no other… no greater Hope or Help.

And so I pray. And keep praying. Trusting in the loving goodness of a Holy God.

And so I say to you - Do not lose heart…